


Only Fools

by decsar20



Series: A Thousand Years [3]
Category: Avengers, Marvel Avengers Movies Universe
Genre: AU, M/M, Mortal AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-06-24
Updated: 2012-06-29
Packaged: 2017-11-08 11:19:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 11,061
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/442654
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/decsar20/pseuds/decsar20
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Third fic in the Thousand Years series. Two months later and Tony and Loki had practically become a set. If Loki wasn’t answering his cell phone, you could call Tony’s. If Tony wasn’t at work, he was probably with Loki. But they still refuse to acknowledge that they were an item. And Loki isn’t entirely sure that Jane’s meddling can help this time.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Rated T for language and sexual themes.

“Hey Tony, pass the salt.”

Tony handed the salt over to Jane. Two months had passed since Loki and Tony’s first ‘date’. They were well into monsoon season now, and a storm wailed outside as they enjoyed their meal. Tony was now a fixture alongside Loki at their weekly family dinners. Nobody had gotten as drunk as they had that first dinner, though they still did drink. It turned out (to nobody’s surprise) that Tony had a much higher alcohol tolerance than Loki, so he usually ended up driving Loki home at the end of the night. Of course, they usually didn’t end up at Loki’s apartment, but it all worked out in the end. Thor had still yet to comment on his brother’s relationship. Jane said he would come around. Loki convinced himself that he didn’t care. Tony was too busy questioning what the relationship was to even begin to care what Thor thought of it.

Thor cleared his throat. “So, brother, how goes the job search?”

“Slowly.” Loki rolled his eyes dramatically. “But I suppose I’m being picky. There are select few jobs here in New Mexico for my skill set that… would not require me reporting the majority of their employees to border control for the sake of my sanity.”

Jane laughed. “Yeah, that sounds like picky to me.”

“Just a little.” Loki laughed. In truth, he really hadn’t been looking. He had been…otherwise preoccupied. “Well, I may have to just take something soon.”

Thor’s eyebrows came together. “What do you mean?”

Loki shrugged. “Eh, I haven’t been able to pay my rent practically since I moved in. I’m pretty sure the landlord is sick of me by now.”

“You know you always have a place to stay here, Brother.”

Loki rolled his eyes again. “Thanks, but no thanks, Thor.”

Tony coughed. “Uh, well, I suppose you could always stay with me until you get back on your feet.”

Loki turned his full body to stare at Tony. “You mean that?”

Tony shrugged. “I mean, I’m only going to be there another month or so. We’ve almost finished, right Jane?”

“Well, we’ve cracked his schematics, and we’re halfway through the code. After that there’s just the matter of rebuilding and testing…”

“So another month or so. Right.”

Loki stared. He honestly wanted to kiss Tony at this moment, but he wouldn’t dare with his brother sitting right there. “Thank you, Tony. It means a lot to me.”

Tony waved a hand. “Don’t mention it.”

Jane sighed, leaning on her hand. “God, you two are cute. I deserve an award or something.” She covered her hand with her mouth. “Oops. Didn’t mean to say that.” They may not have drunk much, but Jane was still as much of a lightweight as ever. A little alcohol in her system, and there was no filter between her brain and her mouth.

Thor choked on his drink. If Loki had been drinking, he would have returned the sentiment. Tony laughed awkwardly. “Uh. Thank you? But we’re not-“

“Not what?” Jane scoffed. “You’ve been going on dates for two months-“

“We’ve gone on three dates.” Loki interrupted. Thor was visibly blushing.

“Tony’s not the dating type, so that’s impressive.” Jane countered, and then continued. “You spend all your free time together.”

Loki scoffed. “We do not.”

Tony rubbed his beard, shaking his head. “No, she’s got a point there.”

Jane grinned. “And now you’re going to move in together.”

Loki was knocked speechless. Tony shook his head again. “Jane, I’ve still got Pepper at home. It may be a weird relationship, but I don’t think-“

“Oh, please. Save it for the people who give a damn.” Jane grinned blearily. “If Miss Potts knows you as well as I think she does, she’ll be perfectly fine.”

Thor coughed awkwardly. The blush on his face had yet to subside fully. “Jane, I think perhaps you have had a bit too much drink tonight.”

“Don’t tell me what to do, Thor.” She tried to slap him playfully, and missed. “Okay yeah maybe you’re right this time.”

Thor laughed. He stood, and helped Jane stand. “Mr. Stark, I trust you’ll make sure my brother gets home safely?”

“As usual.” He stood himself, stretching. He had long since given up on trying getting Thor to use his first name. “Actually, we’d better be off.”

Loki nodded, standing. Jane walked around the table. She hugged Loki, and muttered something in his ear that Tony couldn’t quite catch. Loki took her by the shoulders, stared at her for a moment, and then broke into a rather fake grin. “Jane, dear, you are completely wasted. Go to sleep. I’ll make sure that Tony brings you a bottle of aspirin in the morning.”

Jane smiled at him and patted his shoulder. She walked towards the stairs, patting Tony on the shoulder as well as she passed him. She stumbled slightly, but Thor quickly caught up and supported her.

Tony and Loki walked outside together. Loki locked the door as Tony ran through the rain to unlock and start his car. They did this in silence, but Tony didn’t think anything of it. They had these moments of comfortable silence. Tony enjoyed not having to talk all the time. If he had to make a list of reason why he enjoyed Loki’s company, the periods of silence would be near the top. Loki, on the other hand, had quite a bit on his mind. He shoved his hands in his pockets and walked leisurely to the car, not caring that he was getting soaked. Tony half noticed something was wrong then, but since Loki didn’t say anything, he didn’t. He backed out of the driveway and drove in the direction of his house. “Do you need anything from your apartment, or?”

“Actually, I think I’d like to stay there tonight. Give it a proper goodbye before I move out,” Loki said quietly, monotonously.

“Okay.” Tony glanced at him. His hands were folded on his lap, and his gaze was directed out the window. He looked lost in thought. Tony spoke up them. “Something eating at you?”

“I. I don’t know.” Loki shrugged. “Just thinking about what Jane said tonight, I suppose.”

Tony didn’t know what to say for a moment. He stared forward. “Oh.”

Loki took that as a cue to continue. “And about what you said about Pepper. You don’t think she’ll be…upset, do you?”

“Upset about what?” Tony adjusted his grip on the wheel. “You said it yourself; we’re not really a thing.”

“Like you and she aren’t really a thing?” Tony didn’t know how to reply to that. Loki sighed. “Tony, I just don’t want you to hurt her. From what I’ve heard, she’s a perfectly nice girl.”

“She’s the best.” Tony sighed. He wanted to say that he just didn’t feel for her. He wanted to say that they had set it up so it would be easy to break it off. Tony wanted to say that Loki meant a lot more to him than Pepper. But none of that was completely true. “I just. I don’t know.”

 

Loki sighed. “Then perhaps you should figure that out,” he muttered. He looked up at Tony. “Listen. I think we should just. Stop this.”

 

“Stop what?” Tony was getting agitated. They pulled up to Loki’s apartment complex. “We have sex. What’s the big deal? Pepper and I pretty much established at the beginning that it was an open relationship.”

 

Loki stared at Tony for a long moment. “Tony, is that really all I am to you? A good lay?”

 

Tony wanted to slap himself. “No! No. I mean.”

 

Loki rolled his eyes. “I’m just going to go. Call me if you figure yourself out, Stark.” He got out of the car.

 

Tony gritted his teeth. He wanted to run after him. But that wasn’t going to work. He leaned out his window. “Hey!” Loki turned around, expression unreadable. “My offer still stands. I do have an extra bedroom if you want it.”

 

The corners of Loki’s mouth twitched unnaturally in what might’ve been an attempt at a smile. “Thanks.” He turned back around and kept walking. He got up to his apartment and leaned against the door as he closed it. He sighed, and then walked to the window, pushing the curtains aside. Tony was still in the parking lot. Tony, seeing that Loki was looking at him, gave a cut wave. Loki just stared at him. After a moment, Tony drove off.

 

Loki let his head knock against the window. He was stupid. Why had he even let himself start to believe that he might mean something to Stark? He was just another lay, and maybe a friend. Tony Stark didn’t do relationships. He didn’t do feelings. The few times they had talked about anything relating to emotions have been times when Tony was so inebriated that he would talk about literally anything. Plus, he was in love with Pepper. That was a love story that has been the top of all the gossip rags since the beginning of time. Tony had droves of fans waiting for them to just kiss in public already. Loki rolled his eyes. He hadn’t stood a chance. He straightened, stretched, flipped off the lights and started walking in the direction of his bedroom.


	2. Chapter 2

Tony got to his house a few minutes later. He kicked off his shoes at the door, and started stripping out of the layers of shirts that he used to hide the glow of the arc reactor during the day. He let the layers fall to the floor and stay there. He could pick them up in the morning. He walked to the kitchen cabinet, pulled out his bottle of good scotch and a glass, and sat down at the counter where he and Loki had eaten many times over the past few months. He quickly downed a glass and poured himself another.

What the hell had just happened? Did he and Loki just break up? That's ridiculous, they weren't even dating. Then why the hell did he feel so bad about it? He grunted in frustration. He pulled out his phone and dialed. It started ringing, and seconds later a familiar, albeit sleepy, voice picked up.

"Tony, why are you calling me at two in the morning?"

Tony grinned, sipping his drink. "Hey Pep. What, I can't just call and talk?"

"No. It's two in the morning. Call back in three hours when I'm actually awake."

"But then it'll be two in the morning here." He smirked as he heard the squeak of bedsprings as Pepper sat up.

"Whatever, Tony. What do you want?"

"Am I seriously not allowed to just want to talk?”

He could practically see her rolling her eyes at him. "Tony, you've been away almost three months, and we haven't talked beyond me calling to nag at you to sign some papers I sent."

"And I am truly sorry for that, Pepper."

Another eye roll. "What's eating at you, Tony? You wouldn't call if there wasn't a reason."

Tony snorted, half laughing at how similar her choice of words was to his in the car. But, he had no idea what to say. He didn't know why he had called Pepper in the first place, actually. It has seemed like a good idea at the time. "I just...wanted to talk. Honestly."

"Well, we're talking." Pepper laughed. He finished his glass, and poured another. He decided to savor this one more slowly. He didn’t need to pass out on her.  "What have you been up to, Tony? Besides being bored."

He smiled at the way she headed off what he was going to say before the words had even crossed his lips. "Eh. Dull stuff for SHIELD, mostly. But I'll have you know that you can be proud of me."

"Oh? What for?"

"I've been being unusually social."

“You’re always social, Tony,” Pepper laughed.

“No, but I’ve been making friends and the whole bit.”        

"Mmhmm," Pepper hummed. "So how’s Loki?" Tony froze. Pepper couldn't possibly know about Loki already. How could she? Pepper laughed at his silence. "Oh, cut the crap, Tony. You really think that I would let you fly halfway across the country and not keep tabs on you? Jane and I have become good friends. Plus, Rhodey called me in a confused panic pretty much the second you hung up on him after your little impromptu dating advice session.”

Tony rolled his eyes. Of course Pepper was spying on him. Why did he expect anything less? “I would like to point out that that quote-unquote date was a joke."

"Right. And how many other quote-unquote joke dates have you two gone on since?" Tony fell silent again. "I thought so. But I do still want to know the answer."

"Three.” Tony admitted.

He could practically hear Pepper grinning. "Wow. You're almost at the point where you could have sex and nobody would think anything of it."

Tony scoffed. "I'll have you know that our sex life is great." He quickly shut his mouth as Pepper started laughing. Oh god, Jane's lack of filter was catching. Maybe if he drank more, he would get his cool back. He finished his glass. "Pepper, you shouldn't be allowed to read me this well over the phone. I may have to have Natasha kill you. You know too much."

Another nearly audible eye roll. "Wait, I'm not done yet. You're calling me to end our weird, non-official, half relationship thing. Am I right?"

Tony sighed. "Well. Not exactly."

"Tony, what did you do?"

Tony snorted. "What makes you think I did something?"

"If that's not why you're calling, then clearly something happened."

"I didn't do anything. There's nothing to do. It's not like Loki and I were actually in a relationship or something."

The phone crackled as Pepper sighed deeply, and there was the squeak of bedsprings again as Pepper stood. "I'm going to need coffee for this."

"Already being made, Miss Potts," Tony could faintly hear JARVIS answer back.

"Thank you, JARVIS."

Tony rolled his eyes. "God, I'm jealous. Why did I think it was a good idea to not just buy a house here and have JARVIS installed?"

"Because you said you were only going to be there for a few months, so it wasn't worth it. Your words, not mine." Pepper laughed. "Okay, let me just make sure I have my story straight. Jane invited you to dinner about two months ago and tried to set you up with her boyfriend's brother?"

"Yes."

"And how did she know that you weren't straight?"

"I may or may not have gone home with someone from a bar and had to use their shampoo and went into work smelling of Axe. It was all very degrading. Can we move on?"

Pepper laughed. "Yes, yes."

"Anyway. So a few days after the dinner party-"

"Wait, just clarifying. At the dinner party you and Loki got drunk and had sex?"

"No, no sex. We just...talked."

"I'm impressed."

"You shouldn't be. But that story is entirely irrelevant."

"I think it's very relevant, but continue. A few days after the dinner party, you and Loki went on your little quote-unquote joke date, and you called Rhodey and freaked him the hell out.”

“Apparently.”

“And then...?

"And _then_ we had sex."

"Was it good?"

"Some of the best I've ever had."

"Damn."

"That's what he said." Tony snorted. "And then we just. Kept meeting up. Most of the time it wasn't even for sex. We would just drink and talk and joke around."

Pepper was silent for a long time. “Good conversationalist?”

Tony laughed. “He takes after his namesake in his silver tongue. Words are his thing. He speaks seven languages. _Seven._ ”

Pepper whistled. "Intelligent?"

Tony sighed. "One of the smartest men I've met. He’s the only person I've ever met besides you that can meet my sarcasm blow for blow and not even blink. And that's only because you've known me for years."

"Attractive?"

"Would I have slept with him if he wasn't?"

Pepper laughed. "Describe him, you idiot."

Tony closed his eyes, trying to find words to describe Loki. "Tall. And... lean. He's got this mop of black hair... and God, it's soft. And. He’s got these... eyes. They're like... this green. I can't even describe it."

"So basically you're saying he's gorgeous?"

“Exactly.” Tony sighed, and then stopped himself. "Oh god. I sound like a lovesick teenager, don't I?"

“Just a little.” Pepper stopped, obviously sipping at her coffee. “Tony, I never thought I’d say it, but I think you’re in love.”

Tony snorted. “No I’m not.”

“Yeah, you are.” Pepper laughed. “You said it yourself. You sound like a lovesick teenager.”

“I was joking.” Tony rolled his eyes. “What, I can’t find a person ridiculously attractive?”

“And call them the smartest person you’ve ever met?” Pepper countered.

Tony downed the rest of his glass. “I’m really drunk right now. And like I said, it’s really awesome sex. I wouldn’t trust anything that comes out of my mouth relating to someone who gets me off that well. I may well compare him to the pope or something.”

“Tony, you’re usually more honest when you’re drunk.” Pepper paused to take another drink of her coffee. “Okay. A test then.”

“You have a test to see if I’m in love?” Tony scoffed.

Pepper ignored him. “If you had a choice between never having sex with Loki again, and never talking to him again, which would you choose?”

Tony opened his mouth to answer immediately, but stopped. “That’s not a fair question,” he muttered.

“You were going to answer that you would give up sex, weren’t you?”

Tony swallowed. That was his answer. And frankly it scared him that he was able to answer it that quickly. It must be the alcohol. “I can get sex anywhere.”

“You basically just told me that it was some of the best sex you’ve ever had.”

Tony fidgeted. “I don’t see how this situation would ever come up in real life.”

“Okay. I’m just going to let you figure out those feelings on your own when you’re sober.” Pepper sighed. “Back on topic. What happened?”

Tony blinked. He was lost. “What?”

“Between you and Loki. Obviously something happened, or you never would have called me. Did you get into a fight?”

“No.” Tony rolled his eyes. “At least, I don’t think so.” He paused. Pepper didn’t say anything, so he continued. “Jane has been inviting me to their weekly family dinners ever since that first night. She got pretty drunk, and started saying how we were a cute couple and all this crap.”

Pepper sighed loudly. “Okay, I can guess how you reacted to that. How did Loki react?”

Tony paused for a moment, trying to remember past the alcohol. “He... protested more than I did.”

“Oh, Christ.” Pepper paused, probably drinking coffee again. “So we have two extremely intelligent men, both completely in love with each other but terrified of commitment? Poor Jane.”

Tony scoffed. "Poor Jane?"

"Hell yes, poor Jane." Pepper sighed. "Though, usually comments like that are prompted by something. What exactly were you two doing that was so quote-unquote cute?"

Tony shrugged, way too drunk to care that she couldn't see him. "Well, Loki's out of the job at the moment, and his landlord is about to kick him out, so-"

Pepper interrupted, "You asked him to move in with you?" She sounded completely shocked.

"Well, kind of. He needed a place to stay and I mentioned that I have a lot of extra room."

"Okay. How did he respond to that?"

"Uh, he was grateful, I guess. Thanked me."

Pepper paused, probably sipping at her coffee. "So what happened between you and Loki that made you call me?"

"Well. Uh. I may have mentioned you when I was helping the argument against Jane."

" _Why_?!" Pepper sounded outraged.

"I don't know. It was the best argument for why Loki and I weren't a thing that I could think of!" There was a smacking sound of skin against counter, and Pepper was silent. Tony paused, and then hesitantly asked, "You okay, Pepper?"

"I'm fine. Hitting my head against the counter because you're an idiot and not here to let me actually slap you. Nothing to worry about. Keep going."

Tony shrugged. Somehow, to his drunken mind, that made perfect sense. "And then when I was driving him home, he basically said that we shouldn't be doing this because I would just end up hurting you."

"And then you got home and started drinking. And you called me.”

"Yeah, that's pretty much it." There was a long pause.

"Give me a second." More small smacking noises. Tony sipped at what he was pretty sure was his seventh glass of scotch. The bottle was nearly empty now. After a minute, Pepper was back. "Tony Stark. Put down your glass and listen to me closely."

Tony set down his glass immediately. "I'm listening."

"When I finish speaking, I want you to hang up. Then I want you to call Loki and tell him that I give you both my blessing."

Tony was speechless for a moment. "You mean that, Pep?"

Pepper snorted. " _You_ hardly need my blessing. But yes. I really do. I love you, Tony. In case you hadn't figured it out after all these years, I love seeing you happy. And if this boy makes you happy, by god I'm not going to be the one to stand in your way."

Tony worried at his bottom lip. He was just drunk enough that his voice cracked as he next spoke. "Thank you, Pepper. That...really means a lot."

"Oh, quit it. You're going to make me cry, Tony." She paused, either drinking her coffee or wiping tears from her eyes. Tony couldn't be sure. "Oh, and I want to be your maid of honor at the wedding."

Tony snorted. "Sorry, already promised Rhodey the Best Man position."

"Well, then." Pepper huffed. "I'm just going to have to make good friends with Loki and become his Maid of Honor then, won't I?"

"I don't know why you all are convinced that there's even going to be a wedding in the future." Tony rolled his eyes. "I'm not exactly the marrying type."

"Yeah, and you're not exactly the dating type or the falling in love type either." Pepper laughed. "And look at you now."

"Not in love," Tony muttered.

Pepper sighed. "Sure you're not. Call your boyfriend, Stark. And _please_ call me later today. At a decent hour. I do like to talk to you sometimes, you know."

"Not my boyfriend," Tony muttered. He shook his head. "But I'll call you. I promise."

"Good. I want all the juicy details."

Tony rolled his eyes. "Good night, Pepper. I hope you can get a few more hours of rest in."

"Bah." Pepper scoffed. "Too much coffee. I have paperwork to finish anyway, and then I can get in to work early and Skype with our partners in Japan or something."

Tony laughed. "You do that, Pep. And... thank you." He hung up and set his phone on the counter. Well, that was a productive conversation. He stared at his glass, before tipping out the remainder of the scotch. He knew his limits, and he was well past them. He glanced back at his phone, but decided against calling Loki at the moment. He shut off the lights and went to bed. He would call him in the morning. When he was sober. Yes, that was entirely the reason why he was putting it off.


	3. Chapter 3

Loki sighed, staring at the ceiling of his apartment. It had been two days since the family dinner. Two days since he had last spoken to Stark. Two days since he had been out of his apartment. He was more bored than he had ever been in his life. He picked his phone off the side table, and started flipping through his contacts. There had to be someone...Ah, yes. He smirked slightly, and opened a new message. _‘Hey D, want to go out and grab a drink? –L’_

_‘Loki, PLEASE don't tell me this is some major ploy to get in my pants again? Not going to wooork!’_

Loki rolled his eyes. _‘I'm bored, and drinking alone is dull. Everything doesn't have to be about sex, you know.’_ He silently prayed that she would take the hint or at least get drunk enough while they were there to think that sex was a good idea.

_‘Not everything is about sex? Oh be still my beating heart. I'll meet you, but I'm bringing my tazer. Never leave home without that thing...’_

Loki laughed. _‘Just for that, only half your drinks can go on my tab. Be there in 20? If you get there first order me a beer.’_ He put his phone down, and got up and went to the bathroom to actually shower and shave.

Loki got to the bar about a half an hour later. He spotted Darcy at their usual table. He laughed at the thought that three months ago he had a usual table. He sat down, giving her a curt nod and a smile. "Hey, Darcy. Long time no see."

She smiled back, "Hey, if it isn't Loki the loco! Yeah, it's been awhile. You don't mind that I picked this table do you? Familiarity, you know?" She slides the beer across the table. "Because I'm nice. Too nice."

Loki snickered at his old nickname, taking a pull from the beer. "I don't mind. So what's up with you? I think Jane mentioned you were seeing someone...?" He tried to recall when he had heard that. It had been months ago at least. "But I might be mistaken."

Darcy shrugged, "Idiotic bastard I tazed and dumped after he called me his ex's name one too many times." She glances at him, "Jane's been dropping very large hints that you're seeing someone."

"You know, tazing people really isn't polite." He laughed and took another drink, swallowing deeply. "Ah, well. We're not. I wasn't. I mean. It's complicated." Loki sighed.

Laughing, she asks, "Is calling someone your ex's name polite? I didn't think so. Oh, so you're NOT fucking Tony Stark. I'm almost disappointed." She sighs. "I thought you'd have been stamping a ‘Property of Loki’ sticker on him by now."

Loki snorted. Of course she knew all about Tony. She was Jane’s friend. How could he forget? He opened and closed his mouth several times, trying to find the words. "Tony is not 'property' of anyone." He took another drink. "However, you are correct in that we have been...'hooking up' the last couple months."

Darcy's mouth dropped open, "Like, what happened?" She asked, "And what happened, and what happened, and you look like you either want to cry or kill a puppy, and I'm not sure which I'd rather let you do."

Loki laughed at her. "We...aren't seeing each other anymore." He coughed, and took another sip from his drink. "I assume you've read in the gossip rags about his love story with his personal-assistant-turned-Co-CEO, Virginia Potts? I wasn't about to let Tony break that girl's heart over me." He took another drink. "I mean, he wasn't looking for anything long-term as far as I could tell, anyway. But still."

Darcy faceplanted into the table. Loki jumped, but did not otherwise react. Darcy could be a little melodramatic at times. "You did not. You stupid ass. Do you _realize_ what you're saying? You broke up with Tony Stark, after hanging out with him for nearly two months, over a girl he merely harasses all day to help him with stuff?! Jane's told me about him and Pepper. It's not a relationship. It's a 'Let's see how cute we look for the tabloids, good girl Pep, good boy Tony' thing. They quarrel like children. Jane tells me _everything_."

"And how would Jane know anything about Tony's relationship with a girl she's never met?" Loki scoffed. "And that makes perfect sense as to why he brings up Miss Potts as a defense when Jane just drunkenly _mentions_ that we look cute as a couple. Which by the way, we weren't. So I didn't break up with him. There was nothing there to break up."

Darcy groans, taking a sip of her beer that she had momentarily forgotten she had even ordered. "Tony talks.”

"I'm sure he does," Loki responded to the comment about him talking. "All he ever does is talk."

“You say you weren't a couple. Did you like him? I don't mean to sound middle schooler here, but did you _like_ him like him?"

He downed the rest of his beer. He scrambled, attempting to dodge the question the best he could. "I. Enjoyed his company in and outside of the bedroom. If that's what you mean."

Glaring slightly, Darcy said, "You _know_ what I mean. Did he give you butterflies? Did you ever just catch yourself looking at him and admiring him without thinking about sex? Enjoying company isn't the same thing. You enjoyed _my_ company, inside and outside of the bedroom, you might enjoy that random hobo down the street's company inside and outside the bedroom, but it isn't necessarily meant to be."

"Butterflies? 'Meant to be'? Darcy, I think you've read one too many romance novels." He sighed, tipping his now empty beer bottle back and forth.

Darcy rolls her eyes, "My parents named me DARCY. That should be a clue in itself. Pride and Prejudice, hello!?”

Loki snorted. "Your parents named you after a fictional _male_ love interest in a cheesy nineteenth century romance. Charming."

“Just answer the damn question, Odinson.”

Loki sighed. How did he feel about Tony Stark? "I. Feel like I could talk to Tony for hours about absolutely nothing and still come out of it three IQ points smarter. And I would be okay with that. Just sitting there. Talking. Don't get me wrong, the sex is fantastic. Like, imagine that time we went to that rave and I made you try a hit of acid.”

She glares, "I don't think I _ever_ fully recovered from that, thank you.”

Loki snapped his fingers. “Oh that’s right. Your orgasm turned into a bad trip and you started screaming about elephants. Sorry, I forgot.”

Darcy rolled her eyes. “How does this relate to good sex at all?”

“Do you remember anything about the orgasm itself?”

“Yeah, it was the best orgasm I’ve ever had in my life.”

“Imagine that. But that’s what sex with Tony Stark feels like normally.” Loki sighed.

“When you orgasm you start hallucinating?” Darcy sipped at her beer and leaned forward, fascinated.

“What? No.” Loki snorted. “You’re not getting the point.”

“No, I got it. Really good sex. Yep.” Darcy rolled her eyes. “But damn... you just went all misty eyed when you were talking about him. Call him." She said, reaching across and picking Loki's phone out of his shirt pocket, "Don't even ask why. Just... call him."

Loki grabbed his phone back, setting it on the table. "No. If he wanted to talk to me, he would've called by now. Clearly, I've knocked some sense into his head about Pepper."

Darcy sighs. "Or he's just as confused as YOU are, and doesn't want to call because he thinks things will be awkward. You're too damn stubborn, Loki. Just... gahhh, I can't even begin to explain this to you." Pulling her glasses off her face, she begins twirling them by an earpiece. "You ended it. Ahhh. You probably tore his heart out and stomped on it when you did that."

Loki rolled his eyes, but let Darcy rant. He waved at a waitress, and she brought them both another beer.

"He was moving out of New Mexico in a month and hadn't mentioned leaving you. You left HIM. Again, the fact he's leaving in a month courtesy of Jane. Do you realize what that means, Loki? Even if you weren't a couple, if you were just casual fuck buddies, which I don't believe for a moment, he didn't want to leave you behind."

"Are you finished now?" He took a sip of his beer, and then responded. "First of all, Tony has zero sense of what is socially awkward. He's a billionaire, and he was raised as one. If he wanted to call, he would. Secondly, going on that thread, there is scant little evidence that Tony has a heart to tear out. Otherwise, he wouldn't be cheating on his _girlfriend_ with some guy he met. And don't give me that spiel about Pepper not being his girlfriend. His words, not the paper’s." He took another drink from his beer, trying to drown the slight scratch that was developing in his throat. "Lastly, he didn't need to say anything. It was an unspoken fact that I was just there as entertainment until he went back to New York. I was okay with that, and I ran with it. But I'm not anymore. I'm just not." Loki swallowed.

Darcy rolled her eyes and slapped him. "You're a moron, as always." She took a chug of her beer, "And that, my friend, was me being polite. Otherwise, I'd have tazed you. You either need a good, uncomplicated fuck from the nearest whore, male or otherwise, or you need to call that goddamned playboy. And you can get all kinds of nasty diseases from whores... just saying..."

Loki rubbed the spot where she slapped him. He returned her scathing glare. "What, are you offering yourself? Because I'm not calling Stark, and I really don't feel like going through STD treatment again. Though I suppose it would be easier when you just have one..."

"Oh, that's nice. I'm a whore now. Lovely of you." She sighs. "Fine. Be a stubborn asshole. Don't get with the man you really care about because you have an ego the size of Texas. I'm done trying to help."

"Learn to take a joke, Lewis. You really think I texted you because I wanted to drink shitty beer and talk about Tony Stark? Give me a break." He rolled his eyes, taking a drink from his beer. "And for the record, my ego has nothing to do with it. I think I know Tony a little bit better than you do, Darcy. He wasn't interested."

"Fine." Darcy said, and pulled him over to the bar, "You don't want shitty beer, I'm opening a tab. Hey, barkeep! We need some vanilla vodka for this sorry motherfucker!" She smirked, perhaps getting him drunk would get him to spill some sort of beans.

Loki sighed deeply, letting himself be dragged. "Darcy, you don't-" The bartender brought over a bottle of vanilla vodka and two shot glasses. He tried to put on a grateful smile, but it came out extremely awkward. The man rolled his eyes at him and went back to serving other customers. "Seriously, Darcy. You don't have to do this."

She smirked, "What? You said you didn't want to drink beer all night and talk about feelings. What DO you want to do? Why did you call me, anyway? Boredom... you say boredom. You could be job-hunting, or a number of useful things, but you text up you ex-girlfriend to try to forget the man you just broke up with. Heartache is a powerful thing, isn't it, Loki?"

Loki stared at her. She knew _exactly_ why he had texted her. Loki took it as a hint that he wasn't getting any tonight, and unscrewed the cap on the bottle to pour them shots. "I texted the first number I saw that was in town and wasn't directly involved. It's not my fault your name comes early in the alphabet." He held his shot glass up for a moment, before shrugging. "I don't have anything to toast to. Just drink." He tossed it back.

"If you wanted a pity fuck, I would have picked some dumb broad you knew in college. Not me." Taking her shot glass, she raised it, "To future fuckups!" And downed it.

Loki rolled his eyes and poured himself another shot. "You're confusing me with Thor. I actually studied in college. Thus why I finished a degree that was twice as hard in half the time." He considered his glass for a moment, and then drank it. He really wasn't in a mood for toasting.

Darcy scoffed, "Oh, so you deserve a medal for being a genius. My mistake. Whoopdeefuckingdoo." She knocks back another shot, smirking. Her glass was filled with water and would be for the rest of the evening.

"Not a genius. Thor's just an idiot." Loki laughed. "Seriously, I will never understand how Jane puts up with him on a day-to-day basis." He held up his glass, full again. "This one is in her honor." He drank it, coughing and laughing slightly.

Darcy nodded, "To Jane!" She pauses for a moment, "You know, everyone Jane's ever paired up has either gotten married, or been so grossly in love that they were nearly married. Pity you two were the streak breaker."

"Oh, she's still hanging in there, based on the state of my voicemail." Loki rolled his eyes. "But seriously, maybe she should have tried her luck with a couple who didn't commitment issues coming at it from one side, and just plain _issues_ coming at it from the other." Lord, a beer and a half and three shots in and he was already spewing nonsense? He must be off his game. He downed another shot.

"You don't have 'issues', Loki. You _think_ you have issues. Jane usually knows what she's doing. And yeah, I figured you've got about eight billion voicemails from her. She really doesn't know when to let up, because you, sir, are a firm man, and you are _not_ going to pick up that phone and call Tony, because you never gave a shit about him in the first place." She's stringing him along now, laughing in her sleeve.

He gave her a look out of the side of his eyes. "I was lied to my entire life, had an inferiority complex all but beat into me, found out I was adopted, and ran away from home and sold drugs for a year. I am qualified to say that I have issues." He took another drink. "And Darcy, please don't try and play games with me. I'm not an idiot. Yes, I gave a shit about Tony. Which is why if he wants to go back to Pepper, he should. Right?" Oh god Jane's lack of filter was contagious. He shook his head, trying to clear it. "Don't answer that."

"But do you _have_ to classify them as 'issues'? Can't they just be ‘the things that make me who I am’?" She shrugs. "Oh well, since Tony Stark was obviously _pining_ for his girlfriend, you're just a big old hero for setting him free from you. And what, he mentioned her... once? In two months. Obviously stir crazy for her."

"My issues are who I am. I've accepted that. Doesn't make them non-issues." He knocked back another drink as she talked. "Which is the entire reason why I ended our fling? From what I've heard, Pepper is a sweet girl. Tony is an idiot who basically bumbles through life hurting people." Another shot.

Snickering, she replied, "And what's your true opinion of this 'idiot'?"

Loki scoffed. "What do you mean, my 'true opinion'? He's a billionaire playboy with a god complex who's had life handed to him on a silver platter. He's never had to work at a relationship in his life. People just throw themselves at him." He took a shot. "He also happens to be a charismatic genius who's fantastic in bed, but that just adds to the fact that he's never had a hard day in his life."

Darcy shrugs, "Go beneath the sex scandals and the playboy front. Tell me about _Tony_. Your first date. What was it? Just curious."

"Our actual first date, or when we first met and stayed up until four in the morning drinking and talking about our lives? Because _that_ was really awkward. And not just because Thor decided to be an idiot and walk downstairs right when we were finally getting somewhere." Loki laughed and fiddled with his shot glass. "Our actual first date was a joke. I basically told him that I didn't believe he had a romantic bone in his body. He proceeded to cook me heart-shaped pancakes with strawberries in them. It was really fucking adorable."

Darcy smiles, "Aw, that's so cute. Anything fun happen? Talk about stuff?" She smiled, but then frowned, "The one time I ate a strawberry, I nearly died. And it was so good. But I couldn't really think about that with my throat closing up on me."

"What is with you people and your strawberry allergies? Apparently Tony never gets to cook with them because Pepper is allergic." Loki rolled his eyes. "We talked. He attempted to be even cuter and put on a romcom, but we ended up in the bedroom within...ten minutes? And then we just kind of... spent the day together. Talking, fucking, eating. It was really great." He sighed. "That's pretty much what we did for two months. Just hung out. I mean, I think I managed to drag him to a restaurant twice. I masked it as a joke, of course."

Darcy smiled, "That sounds pretty romantic to me... Even if you were mating like bunnies." She giggled. "I cannot see you and Tony Stark on a futon watching a romcom to save my life. That sounds like a disaster waiting to happen. But the other parts sound like it was a slice of heaven. Pity you won't call him..."

"We actually did do that once. Muted it, put our own commentary in. Got through about half the movie before it disintegrated into sex." Loki rolled his eyes, laughing and taking another shot. "And I really don't care. I know what you're doing, Darcy. You're not going to get me drunk enough to call him."

Darcy smirks, "Why not a text? Just a little text, ask him how he's doing. Might confuse him. Might upset him. Perhaps even make him cry. Try it. Say something horrid. Ask how he and Pepper are doing and send a photo of us together. I'll even go so far as to pretend to kiss you. Test his reaction..."

Loki turned on his stool, looking at Darcy like she had grown three heads. “I don’t want to make Tony cry. I don’t want to do anything horrid to him. He’s _happier_ this way.”

Darcy smirked. “Wow, you really are in deep, huh Loverboy?”

Loki rolled his eyes. “You know what? Screw you, Darcy. You don’t know my life. You don’t know Tony’s life. You can go fuck yourself.”

“Gladly. I would much rather be at home with my vibrators than here with you.” Darcy actually took a real shot.

Loki scoffed and stood. “I’m leaving.”

“Are you going to drive over to Tony’s house and beg his forgiveness and tell him how much you’re in love with him?”

“No. Fuck you.” Loki pulled a twenty out of his wallet and put it on the counter. “That should more than cover the drinks. Goodbye, Darcy. I hope you have a shitty life.”

“You too!” Darcy put two fingers to her eyebrows and saluted. “And good riddance.” Darcy paid the rest of the tab, and walked out smiling. Well, she had done her good deed for the day.


	4. Chapter 4

A week passed, and Tony still hadn’t worked up the nerve to talk to Loki. At first it had just been procrastination, but for the last several days he had actually started thinking about what that conversation would mean. Telling him that they had Pepper’s blessing? What the hell would that mean for their relationship? He knew exactly what it meant. And it scared the hell out of him.

“Tony!” Tony jumped as Jane waved a hand in front of his face. He turned, and saw that she had on her coat and was packed up to leave. “Are you coming or not, Iron Skull?”

Tony laughed. “Coming where, exactly?”

“Home for dinner, you dumbass.” Tony opened his mouth to complain, but Jane put a finger up to shush him. “I don’t care about your excuses, Tony. _I_ enjoy your company, and _you_ need to eat something besides takeout at least once a week. You’re coming.”

Tony sighed. “Fine.” He moved to shut down the computers, only to realize that she had already done that. He shot her a look.

She just shrugged. “Thinking some deep thoughts there, eh Tony?” He rolled his eyes and followed her out.

Once they were through security and safely on the road home, she up conversation again. “So, you haven’t been particularly talkative this week. What’s got you all in a tussle?”

Tony shot her another out of the corner of his eye. “Jane, you know what’s ‘got me all in a tussle’.”

“No, actually, I don’t because Loki’s not talking either.” She crossed her arms over her chest. “Okay, I know something. But only because Loki got really drunk with Darcy a few days ago.”

Tony flinched slightly, but didn’t respond. So Loki had already been making booty calls to his ex-girlfriend, huh? Well, maybe he was right in not calling him then. He quickly changed the subject. “Did he find a place to stay?”

“He’s staying with us. But what I _want_ to know is why he’s not staying with you.” She turned in her seat, glaring. Tony didn’t respond. “I’ve heard that this has something to do with Pepper? Have you at least talked to her?”

“Twice. The first time I was drunk.” Tony confirmed.

“Then _why_ -”

“Jane, just drop it.” Tony half growled, gripping the wheel tightly.

“I _will not_ drop it. You two were practically joined at the hip for two months, and you’re going to throw that away because you’re stubborn?!”

“It’s not because I’m stubborn.”

“Then why is it, Tony?

“Jane, we’re not having this conversation.”

Jane sighed, rolling her eyes. “Fine. I’ll drop it. But at least promise me you’ll talk to him? Tonight?”

“It takes two to tango, Foster. I can make no such promises that he’ll even be willing to talk to me.” In the week that had passed, not once had Loki made any sort of effort to contact him. In Tony’s book, that usually meant that they weren’t interested in talking.

Jane sighed even more deeply. “Promise me you will try? I know he’s just as freaking stubborn as you are, but at least _try_? Please?” Tony shrugged in response. Jane decided that that was the best she was going to get out of him, so she let it drop. They were silent the rest of the way home.

\- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

"Mr. Stark, would you mind going and getting Loki? He's in the garage, I believe.” Thor, Jane, and Tony were in the kitchen preparing dinner. Tony hadn’t seen heads or tails of Loki.

Jane immediately put down her rag. "Thor, I don't think-"

"No, it's fine." Tony smiled. "I'll get him."

Jane watched as Tony walked out, and then turned and slapped Thor on the arm. "Why did you do that?"

"Do what?" Thor rubbed his arm. He was obviously completely lost.

Jane sighed, turning back to the stove. "Forget it."

Tony walked out into the garage, and had to stop on the steps and watch the sight before him for a moment. He wasn't sure what he was expecting, but it wasn't this. Loki was working at a punching bag, shirtless with his knuckles taped. He had ear buds in his ears, and had obviously been going at it for a while, based on the glistening coat of sweat. Tony just watched for a minute, observing the way Loki's muscles moved beneath his skin. He had excellent form. Very suddenly, he recalled why he was there. He walked up behind Loki and caught one of his fists in mid punch. He was rewarded with a swift roundhouse kick to the knees, flooring him in about a second. Loki pinned him to the floor, fist raised. Tony put his hands up in defense. "Whoa, whoa! Hold off there, tiger!"

Loki blinked, looking at him curiously. "Tony?" He shook his head, quickly getting off of him and offering him a hand. He pulled the ear buds out of his ears. He was panting, but grinned. "Sorry. Was expecting Thor."

Tony accepted the hand, pulling himself up. "You usually greet your brother by flooring him? Christ!" Tony's knees cracked as they settled back into place. The one he was hit with in particular protested having any weight put on it. He gripped Loki's arm to keep his balance.

"Your knees are lower than his. That would have barely hurt him." Loki laughed and threw an arm around Tony’s waist to balance him. Tony looked up at him questioningly. “Kick boxing,” Loki quickly explained, “Thor and I have been doing it practically since we could walk. Mostly quit in high school, but I like to keep up with the training sometimes. It’s relaxing.”

Tony rolled his eyes. “Whatever. My knee is killing me. Help me over to the steps so I can sit.” Tony reached an arm behind Loki’s back to grip his opposite shoulder, and together they limped over to the steps to let Tony sit. Tony rubbed at his knee. "Jesus Christ, man. You've got a hell of a kick."

Loki laughed, walking over to where he had a towel and a bottle of water. "What are you doing here?" Loki rubbed the towel over his face.

"Jane didn't give me much of a choice, and then your brother sent me in here to collect you for dinner."

"Of course he did." Loki snorted. He wrapped the towel around his neck, and walked back over to Tony, kneeling in front of him. He shoved up the leg of Tony's pants, looking at the knee. It was already swelling. Loki clicked his tongue. "You're not going to want to walk on that for a few days."

"Ya' think?" Tony rolled his eyes.

Loki grinned. “Hey, guys,” He called inside. “We need an ice pack and some ibuprofen out here!”

“Loki, what the hell did you do?” There was a clattering, and Jane came running from the kitchen.

“This dumbass of a genius decided to sneak up on me while I had headphones on.”

“No, I mean specifically.” Jane hopped down the steps, putting a hand on Tony’s shoulder. “Are you okay, Tony?”

“Oh yeah, peachy. I just have a sprained knee because the god of mischief here decided to roundhouse kick me.” Tony winced as Loki attempted to bend his knee.

Jane glared at Loki. Loki looked innocently up at her, shrugging. “What? I was aiming for Thor’s shins. Not my fault Tony’s knees are lower.”

Tony glared. “Was that a short joke?”

“Congratulations, you don’t have a concussion.” Loki grinned widely at him. Tony glared back, and it faltered.

Thor appeared at the top of the steps. “Alright, alright. It’s just a little sprain. Jane, you heard him. We need an ice pack and some ibuprofen. I’ll help Loki get him upstairs to the couch.”

Jane gave both Loki and Tony a look, and then squeezed past Thor on the stairs.

Thor clomped down the stairs and stopped in front of Loki. “I’m guessing you need me to help get him up to the living room?”

“You think?” Loki snarked. He slid one of his arms around Tony’s back and another under his upper thighs.

“Whoa, whoa, hands off the merchandise.” Tony tried to twist around and figure out what was going on.

Loki raised an eyebrow at him. “Would you rather sit here on the concrete than on the couch? Because that can be arranged, Stark.” Tony just stared at him. “I thought so. Come on, Thor, don’t sit there like a sack of tubers, help me with this.” Thor moved forward and mirrored Loki, grabbing his at hand uncertainly. Loki wasted no time in clamping his hands around Thor’s wrists, and Thor did the same. “Tony, unless you want a broken nose from falling forward on your face, I suggest you wrap your arms around our shoulders.

Tony laughed awkwardly and did an exaggerated version of the stretch-and-wrap move. “Yeah, woohoo. This just got about twenty times more awkward.” He gave their shoulders a squeeze, and grinned. “Alright boys, let’s go! Yip, yip!”

Loki rolled his eyes. He gave Thor a look, and they hoisted Tony into the air with a synchronized grunt. Tony hissed at the sudden pain as his knee bent with gravity. “Okay, holy _shit_ that hurt,”

“What, you gonna cry, Stark?” Loki smirked at him. Tony glared back, wishing that he could smack the grin off that face.

Thor coughed, bringing Loki’s attention back to the task at hand. Thor gestured at the steps.

Shuffling around awkwardly, they began making their way up into the living room. “Whoa, watch it,” Tony chuckled as Thor skipped the top step, walking right into the house. “You’re leaving me behind.” Loki made a noise in agreement. Thor just ducked his head, looking thoroughly embarrassed.

Loki rolled his eyes. “Oh, come now, brother,” Loki smirked, and then said something in Swedish. Thor stumbled on the doorframe, spluttering incoherently and blushing.

Tony clutched the arms on either side of him, resisting the urge to slap the raven-haired man at his left side. “Hey now, now is not the time for teasing that will result in me being dropped,” Tony admonished, with a good-natured glint in his eye.

Once up the stairs it was smooth going. They placed the injured man on the couch and Thor rushed away, blushing madly and babbling about something.

Tony looked at Loki and raised an eyebrow. “The hell did you say?”

Loki grinned madly. “If I wanted you to know, I would’ve said it in English.”

“Well, you should’a said it in English then, because I want to know."

Loki rolled his eyes at Tony's insistence. "I saw that he was uncomfortable, and simply reminded him that it wasn't like we were having a threesome or something."

Tony snorted a laugh, causing Loki's wide grin to break into a laugh as well. Jane walked in from the kitchen, arms full. She stopped in the entryway upon hearing their laughter, grinning to herself. She started when Loki made eye contact with her, rushing the last few feet. "Okay, um, I wasn't sure what all you needed, so I just brought the whole first aid kit. I think there's a couple different ACE bandages in there." She handed the kit to Loki. "And, uh, here's the ibuprofen, Tony," She handed him the bottle. "I didn't know how many you take. I can get you some water if you need it-"

"I don't." Tony smiled warmly at her and opened the bottle, taking three of the pills.

Loki was already opening the kit, pulling out what he needed. "And the ice pack?"

"Oh!" She pulled it out of the front pocket of the apron she was wearing. It was wrapped in several rags. "There we are!" She placed it gently on Tony's knee. He hissed at the sudden cold. "Oh, gosh, I'm sorry!"

Loki rolled his eyes. "Jane, go make sure Thor's not in a coma of homophobia somewhere.”

Jane shot him a look. "Thor is /not/ homophobic, Loki. You know that. He may not be comforta-"

"I _know_ , Jane." Loki looked up at her. "It was a joke, dear. Calm down. Go finish dinner. I've got this. I suggest that now that Tony is injured, we abandon the dining room and just do a casual dinner in here?"

Jane nodded. "Okay, yeah." She walked off to the kitchen, glancing behind her.

Loki rolled his eyes. He looked up at Tony. "So I need access to the injury. Either we're going to have to strip you to your boxers, or I'll have to cut the leg off your pants."

"I'm offended." Loki looked up at Tony questioningly. "You know that I don't wear boxers." Tony grinned.

Loki rolled his eyes. “Briefs. Whatever. So underwear or ruined pants?”

"Let’s not make dinner unbearable for your brother? It's not a very solid plan." Tony winked. "I can easily buy new pants. I can't buy back my dignity." Loki rolled his eyes and pulled a pair of scissors out of the box.

Later, after much pain and cursing, Tony was bandaged up with an ACE bandage and an old knee brace of Loki's. He could hardly feel the ice through all the fabric, but at least it couldn't move as easily any more.

Dinner was an unusually quiet affair. Jane and Thor attempted to initiate conversation, but once Tony was bandaged up the two men were mostly silent. Loki had moved into the chair he had been in months before when it had been Thor sitting on the couch that he was trying to distance himself from. As Jane collected everyone's plates after the meal, she kept looking at Tony meaningfully. He didn't respond. She sighed deeply, and left the room. She wasn't quite ready to give up hope yet, but these boys were certainly testing her.


	5. Chapter 5

Tony was moved up to the guest bedroom following dinner. Luckily, Loki hadn’t made any comments this time, so Thor was relatively calm. He was now settled on the bed, leg propped up awkwardly. He didn’t even bother to attempt sleeping. He had asked Jane to go get his bag from the car, and now he had basically every portable gadget that he had brought with him to New Mexico.

He had his tablet on his lap, flipping idly through different applications. He eventually settled on glancing through the files that had accumulated from SHIELD. The Avengers Initiative may have never been needed to be initiated, but that hadn’t stopped the agency from building a database of essentially every known superhuman. Most of the files he was sent recently were on Professor Xavier’s students. His little school seemed to be growing quite nicely. He didn’t even glance up when he heard the door open.

“Doing a little late-night reading?” Loki asked, closing the door softly behind him.

Tony shrugged. “Night owl. It’ll be a cold day in hell before I fall asleep before midnight.”

Loki laughed. “Brought you something.”

Tony looked up just in time to see Loki toss a half-filled bottle of pills at him. Tony examined the bottle. “Vicodin?”

Loki shrugged, and moved to sit on the edge of the bed. “Figured you might need something stronger for your knee than Motrin.” Tony raised an eyebrow at him. “What? That knee brace didn’t come from nowhere, you know.”

“How the hell did you manage to get Vicodin? They don’t even give me Vicodin, and I have a hole in my chest.” He tapped the arc reactor.

“You’re an alcoholic.”

Tony shrugged, twisting off the cap and popping two of the pills. “You’re a former drug addict.”

Loki’s eyes glinted with an unreadable emotion. “Key word former. I’ve been clean for almost a decade now.”

“Says the man with a stash of hydrocodone.” Tony grinned. He tossed the bottle up.

Loki caught it easily, grinning. “Never specified what I was clean of. I’ll have you know that I have not injected, snorted, smoked, or otherwise ingested any drug beyond occasional LSD or pain killers.”

“Wow, you deserve a goddamn prize or something.” Tony rolled his eyes. “You’re just the poster child for the sober lifestyle.”

"Tony, I didn't come here to discuss my former drug addictions."

"Then what did you come here to discuss, pray tell?

Loki stared at him for a long moment. "Please tell me that you're not that socially inept, Stark."

Tony shifted uncomfortably. "Oh. Well." He turned the tablet off and set it on the side table.

"Yeah." Loki looked down at the bedspread. Neither man was sure who should speak first, or if there was an etiquette for this at all.

"Listen-"

"Tony, I-"

They both stopped. "This is ridiculous." Tony shook his head and rubbed the back of his neck. "Christ, I've been meaning to call you all week."

Loki looked up. "You have?"

"Yeah, I have." Tony stared down at the bedspread awkwardly. "I talked to Pepper pretty much immediately after I got home that night. Or at least she tells me I did. I was so drunk, I honestly can't even remember half of what was said." Tony laughed awkwardly and glanced up. Loki just stared curiously at him. "She...I guess I'll quote her here. She gives us her blessing."

Loki looked at him for a long time. "And is that what you want?"

Tony didn't know what he was expecting, but it wasn't that. He started, blinking rapidly. "What?"

Loki shook his head, looking back down to the blanket. "That is extremely kind of her. I wouldn't...I mean, did she give a reason as to why?"

It was Tony's turn to stare curiously. "You wouldn't what?"

Loki looked up, and finally their eyes met. Loki smirked slightly. "I asked you a question first."

"Which one? You've asked two."

Loki brought his legs up on to the bed, subtlety scooting closer in the process. Tony noticed. "Is the answer different for the two questions?"

"Well, one of them was a yes or no question-"

Loki rolled his eyes. "God, just. Just stop. You're so unbelievably thickheaded. Just shut up for a second Tony, okay?" Loki moved to the top of the bed next to Tony, facing him. "If anything good came out of this, it's that we've both had time to stop and think."

He paused for Tony to respond with the snarky comment that he was certain was on the tip of his tongue. Tony didn't say anything. He just watched Loki carefully. "Tony...I need to know what your intentions are. For us."

Tony snorted a laugh. "Intentions? You sound like someone's dad on a first date in high school."

Loki glared. "Tony, can you be serious for two seconds? Please?" He snapped. "I'm asking a serious question here. What are we? I'm okay if we're just fuck buddies or friends with benefits or whatever you want to call it. I-I. I just need to know."

Tony swallowed. "Is that all you want to be?"

"Is that all _you_ want to be?" Loki stared back at him incredulously. Tony shut his mouth and stared. "Lord, I feel like we've regressed to twelve year old girls." Loki sighed exasperatedly. He stared down for a moment and collected his thoughts. "You're so _fucking_ stubborn. And ridiculous and childish and annoying and just. Indescribable." Loki looked up at him. "And for some reason, I really want to answer no to that question."

Tony swallowed again. He knew he should be feeling something. Excitement. Dread. Something. But he just felt numb. "Okay."

Loki leaned forward, his expression a pained mixture of confusion and rage. "'Okay'? What the fuck does 'Okay' mean, Stark?"

Tony opened and closed his mouth several times. He didn't meet Loki's eyes. "I don't know," he muttered.

Loki sighed again. "Tony, I need some sort of feedback here. Are you saying that we should...be a couple?"

"I don't know."

"What don't you know, Tony?!" Loki was half yelling. "Please enlighten me, because I can't read your fucking mind."

"I. Don't. Know." Tony shook his head, sighing and trying to form words into sentences. "I don't know, okay? I don't know what I don't know. I don't know why I can't form sentences right now. I don't know what I want." He stopped abruptly.

Loki looked at him more softly, more curiously. "Well, Pepper had to have something to give her blessing to. What did you tell her?"

Tony shook his head, but words poured out anyway. "Well I don't really remember, but she tells me that I raved for a good ten minutes about you like you were the center of the goddamn universe. Her words, not mine." Tony laughed slightly under his breath. Loki just stared. "And actually, I do remember something." He was ranting at this point, but he didn't care. "She asked me this /stupid/ question, saying that the answer would tell me whether it was love or lust."

Loki looked at him curiously. "What was the question?"

"She asked me to choose between never talking to you again and never having sex with you again." Tony laughed softly. He swallowed.

"And your answer?"

Tony looked up at him. "I would give up the sex. In a heartbeat." He admitted. Loki stared at him. Tony was pretty sure at this point that he was delirious from the pain medication. "I. Just. God, Loki. You're one of the most intelligent men I've ever met. And a lot of the time I just want to sit down and pick your brain open. I'm just. Shit." Tony covered his face with his hand. "I don't even know what I'm saying anymore."

Loki reached up and put a hand to Tony's jawline, gently turning his head. Tony stared, immediately lost in his huge green eyes that were swimming with too many emotions for Tony to name. Loki, in turn, was temporarily lost in Tony's. The fear and hesitance and awe and just raw emotion he saw there sent a shiver down his spine. He shook his head, muttering to himself. "Pepper doesn't know what she's missing out on."

Tony pulled Loki the rest of the way forward, kissing him passionately. It was nothing like he had ever experienced before. The emotion behind every movement and pressure and touch sent chills through his entire body and made his stomach do flips. He pulled back and looked Loki right in the eye. "Yes, she does."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, FINALLY. I know. Next fic coming soon.


End file.
